Who is That Beautiful Woman?

“WHO IS THAT BEAUTIFUL WOMAN?”  Oh boy, here we go again.  As I sat in my office with yet another office guest, I went through the familiar scenario.  It goes something like this.  They ask who the beautiful woman in the photo is.   They are referring to a family portrait from about 5 years ago.

            “That’s me in the photo,” I answer.

            “No way!  That woman is really beautiful -- and she doesn’t look anything like you!,” my guest says, squinting a little to get a better look.  “I mean she has black hair, you have, I don’t know, lighter hair.”

            “Yeah, well,” I say, “as we get older we have to dye our hair lighter to cover up the grays.” 

            The guest looks at me skeptically.  Then at the family portrait.  Then back at me.  Then the realization hits them.

            “Oh wow, that IS you in the photo.  Wow.  What a difference.  You should totally make your hair dark again.”

            “Right,” I say, “well, in the meantime, why don’t we get to that contract you wanted me to take a look at …”

            I am not offended.  When you have as many photos of your family and kids up in your office as I do (it’s a virtual art gallery spanning 16 years), it relaxes people.  That’s why I have them up.  That and I enjoy looking at them much more than I enjoy looking at my diplomas and law license.  Maybe it relaxes some people a little too much.

            I always loved my dark hair.  My natural color is a very dark brown, not quite black.  And if I had my way, I would never have lightened it.  But dark hair is a young person’s game.  As you get older, you get grayer; and gray hair is very noticeable on a dark haired person.

            And so there came a day when I was at Water’s Edge for my regular hair appointment and Karen Ann said to me that we were reaching a point where I could either “rock the salt and pepper look” (so not ready for that) or lighten my hair so the grays wouldn’t be so noticeable.  Obviously, I chose the latter option.

            When you go from dark hair to light hair, you actually have to bleach ALL the color out of your hair, then apply the lighter color.  It’s some kind of weird hair science rule.  When that day came, the girls at WE warned me it would be a little startling to see my hair with no color.  At my request, they put towels on the mirrors so I wouldn’t have to see myself with no hair color.  I came home with significantly lighter colored hair.

            If  I ever want to know how I really look;  or how good my closing argument is;  or if I have any flaws whatsoever, I have always been able to rely upon two sources:  my younger brother and my two sons.  Of course, my husband will always say I look great, so he’s no help at all.  I will never forget how good my husband had my feeling when I came home from the hospital after having Christian.  He had me convinced I was back to my pre-birth weight (I was not) and that I would be wearing my old clothes in no time (never again, actually).  Then my brother stopped by to see the baby.  “Hey Sis,” said my brother, “what did you do, have twins?” he said patting my belly, “I think they left one in there.” 

            My sons have inherited that super-honesty gene.  And so when I came home with my new, pretty but different hair color, Anthony of course told me told me how great I looked.  Then I asked my boys.  “Why can’t you have black hair?” said Michael.  “Is it too late to change your mind?  You really looked a lot better this morning,” said Christian.

            My hairdresser did a great job, and I am back every 2 weeks for touchups.  With the lighter colored hair I never see any grays, so to me it has been worth it.   I had thought maybe I’d be ready to “rock and salt and pepper look” by the time of my 50^th birthday.

            That was then, and this is now – I am turning 50 in July.  And it turns out I’m not even a little bit ready.  We are going to the Disney Vacation Club in Hawaii for my birthday.  And, as I informed my hairdresser, I want her to dye my hair Polynesian Black for the trip.

 It’s a temporary color but when you get right down to it, everything is temporary.  So let’s enjoy what we have and be thankful for today! 

            Off to Zumba, have a great day, everyone and, as always, Remember to Count Your Blessings!  <3  Mrs. Lo www.lobiondo.org for more of the Mrs. Lo Blog.